


A Real Knock-Out

by SensationalSunburst



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew is learning to trust, Fluff, M/M, Matt decks an asshole, Protective!Matt Boyd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 00:24:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16712926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SensationalSunburst/pseuds/SensationalSunburst
Summary: Matt liked being the guy that people could depend on.So, when Andrew left him on Neil Duty on Eden’s overcrowded dance floor, he took it seriously.Matt had been surprised that’d he’d been invited at all, even more so when he actually accepted, but as a man put a heavy hand on Neil’s shoulder, spinning him around, Matt was glad he came.





	A Real Knock-Out

Matt hadn't struck another person outside of the court or the ring in a long, long time. 

(The Riot, as everyone knew, didn’t count.) 

Matt knew his size, his power and his speed in the same way that he knew exactly how Dan liked her coffee. Like he knew that the only lie Andrew ever told was when he told Neil he hated him and the precise directions between Fox Tower and his mother’s house. 

Street brawls and bar fights were exercises in control that he didn’t participate in, always fearful of going too far or hitting too hard. 

He liked to think that, besides Exy, he was a man of peace. 

(It’s why he was so happy when Dan got him a workout tank that said, “Lifting so I can hug the shit out of you,” even though Wymack made him put tape on it if they were going out in public.) 

Matt liked being the go-to when someone couldn’t open a jar or needed a lift. He liked being the center of the puppy pile because he threw warmth like a radiator.  He liked being the guy on speed-dial when someone needed something moved.

He liked being the guy that people could depend on. 

So, when Andrew left him on Neil Duty on Eden’s overcrowded dance floor, he took it seriously. 

Andrew didn’t trust easily. If anyone had asked Matt a year ago who Andrew trusted, he would have easily said, ‘nobody.’ He didn’t think Andrew even trusted himself back then. But now? Maybe Andrew didn’t trust completely, but he was loaning out parcels of it; so when he told them he’d be back, he could feel Andrew handing over that little chunk of trust in the heavy weight of his eyes. 

Matt had been surprised that’d he’d been invited at all, even more so when he actually accepted, but as a man slammed a heavy hand on Neil’s shoulder, whipping him around, Matt was glad he came. Neil’s face was twisted in anger, the smile he'd worn as he eased himself into dancing forgotten, his body was held taut with what Matt only now recognized as fear. It was how he held himself when he jumped at unexpected noises or when someone moved too quickly when he wasn’t expecting it. It was all Matt needed to see to use his bulk to step in between them, knocking the hand off Neil’s shoulder and effectively hiding his tiny friend from view. 

“Hey!” The kid said. His was almost as tall as Matt, but pale where Matt was dark, skinny where Matt was built. The kid was flushed even in the dark of the club, probably drunk, but the dilation of his pupils in the flashing lights spoke of something a lot stronger than alcohol. 

“Think it’s time to go, man.” Matt said. He kept his arms at his sides, shoulders back, with one hand out to block where he could feel Neil attempting to step out around him. “You can’t just grab people like that.” 

It went over pretty well. 

“Fuck you!” The kid spat, “It’s a free fucking country.” 

“That doesn’t mean you can just touch people though.” Matt said. He stepped his right foot back, angling his body to the side and shifted his weight to his left foot, unconsciously falling into his standard boxing stance as the kid became increasingly and visibly belligerent.

“Neil.” Andrew’s voice and its even, calm cadence cut through crowd like a motorcycle through gridlocked traffic. The hand incessantly pressing and poking on his side disappeared and Matt took the opportunity to sink just that much deeper into his stance. 

“I can do whatever the fuck I want.” 

“You really can’t, man. I’m telling you, go take a breather. Walk away. It’s not worth it.” Matt said. 

The kid stepped forward, a threat in every line of his skinny little body. 

“What are you gonna do huh-” The next word out of his mouth was one that Matt had heard before, but he hadn’t heard anyone brave enough to say it to his face in years. 

He blinked, shocked, and heard Andrew take a deep breath beside him. 

“That's yours.” Andrew said. Matt didn’t turn to look as the unique electricity of Andrew's presence faded, indicating he'd walked away, too primed to take his eyes off his opponent. 

“You hear me, asshole? I can do whatever I want!” 

The kid telegraphed every move he made. He may as well have narrated the slow, sloppy jab he threw next.

Matt leaned left and countered. He hooked a right over the kid’s arm and launched himself forward, using the kids own momentum against him to slam his fist directly into his chin. The kid ragdolled and Matt darted forward to catch him by his collar before he could brain himself on the sticky floor. 

“I told you, man.” Matt sighed. The crowd had parted as soon as the first punch was thrown, so he had no problem dragging the kid to a booth and dropping him on the bench. 

The bouncers were rapidly moving in as he turned around, but Andrew lifted his hand from their table across the club and pointed to the door. It was easy to cut through the dancing masses, even as he passed by chest to chest with one of the bouncers. They, it seemed, were more concerned with the dazed shitbag moaning into the cracked vinyl seats than the one who put him there, which smelled of Andrew’s influence something fierce.

Outside, the crisp night air was like a balm on his overheated skin and he shook his hand out, eyeing the bruises he could already feel developing on his knuckles. He took a moment to close his eyes and breathed in the smell of freshly cut grass, somehow stronger than the cloying scent of perfume and booze that dominated Eden's, and breathed out the last tendrils of his adrenaline. Andrew, Aaron, Neil, Nicky and Kevin spilled out of the club behind him and stared silently until Nicky chopped down the silence with a shrill, “What the hell was that?”

“A lesson.” Andrew said. He turned and began walking towards where they'd parked the cars without a backwards glance. 

“Probably not,” Matt said, “Assholes like that don’t learn  _ that _ easily.” 

“I could have handled it.” Neil said, falling back to walk beside him. The look on his face was almost petulant. 

“I dunno,” Matt teased, he knocked his shoulder into Neil's, “You don’t anchor down when you punch, you lose power that way.” 

Neil opened his mouth for a retort but Kevin neatly cut him off, “Why haven’t we seen that before?” 

“Because you can’t afford tickets to the gun show.” Matt flexed both arms and smirked, earning an unexpected snort from Aaron and Neil and a full cackle from Nicky. 

“Awful!” Nicky laughed, slinging an arm around Matt’s shoulders, Matt returned the embrace and smiled at the flush on Nicky’s cheeks. Not drunk, he figured, but well on his way there. “That was awful! How long have you been waiting to use that?” 

“Too long,” Matt admitted. 

The reached the cars and split up, Neil and Aaron in the Maserati with Andrew and Kevin and Nicky with Matt in the truck. Andrew waited until his ducklings were stored away before leaning over the roof of the car and meeting Matt’s eyes. 

“That was a good punch.” He said and even without inflection, Matt could read the compliment. 

“I can teach you, if you want. Boxing is different from brawling, but I think you’d pick it up quick.” 

Andrew seemed to consider this, tilting his head to the side like a cat and sending his mop of white gold curls tumbling to the other side of his head. 

“Perhaps.” 

“Well, just lemme know when, you can find me at the gym on Monday nights.” Matt smiled and stole Andrew’s two fingered salute before sliding into the truck. In the back, Nicky and Kevin were already asleep, slumped against each other and snoring softly. 

Before pulling out of the parking lot he snapped a photo then took care to avoid potholes all the way home. 

And on Monday night, Andrew beat him to the gym.

**Author's Note:**

> This one was inspired by the time that a classmate called my dad a racial slur because she didn't know that I was biracial and I was so shocked to hear that word out of her mouth that I couldn't even react. 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading! And I also wanted to thank everyone so much for their feedback! All of the comments just make my life, you guys don't understand how much I appreciate it!   
> Thank you!


End file.
